After more than two decades of deregulation in the power sector and countless collusion allegations at the spot market, it is finally coming to the senses of industry regulators to step up ‘police powers’ against anti-competitive behavior that could distort market dynamics in the private sector-driven industry, raising hopes for consumers that it will be ‘for real’ this time.

In advancing that goal, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) have decided on the formation of a task force “to monitor and investigate allegations of anti-competitive practices in the power sector.”

There are no specific details yet on the composition of the task force; as well as the corresponding to-do lists that the new body will carry out to help guard competition in the power industry.

ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta sounded off that “in order to protect the consumers, we cannot afford to go at this alone” – hence, it opted for that collaboration with the PCC to fortify regulatory scrutiny over exclusionary tactics, collusion or price fixing and other irregular activities that could undermine genuine competition in the marketplace.

According to the regulatory body, the ‘refreshed collaboration’ had been built upon an earlier memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed in 2019 for the two agencies to “foster competition in the energy industry in response to concerns about power outages and corresponding increases in prices of electricity.”

The ERC qualified that “these joint fact-finding inquiries aim to uncover anti-competitive conducts that harm consumer welfare.”

A pending case that has already been gathering dust in the shelves of the ERC had been the 2013 collusion allegations against several generation companies (GenCos) that triggered spikes in electricity prices due to unexplained simultaneous shutdowns of power plants while the Malampaya gas production facility was on its scheduled maintenance downtime.

Instead of ERC finishing an investigation on that incident, it practically slept on the case until the GenCos won a case in the Supreme Court that will incentivize them with estimated P24.3 billion worth of pay-back during high-priced regime in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) that had been linked to allegations of market collusion.

The high court-mandated payments to the GenCos will soon be reflected as staggered form of increases in the electric bills of consumers.

Through the years, the power industry regulator has not shown enough expertise to really go against erring players in the market; and collateral damage would always be on the consumers because they are left with no choice but to pay for those costs of alleged market abuses through higher electric bills.

Moving forward, Dimalanta assured that its renewed synergy with PCC “allows our respective agencies to better fulfill our mandates and serve the Filipino public,” adding that in line with this initiative, “the ERC has shared key industry data and insights with the PCC.”

Correspondingly, PCC Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo had given word on his agency’s “unwavering commitment to holding market players accountable to their customers.”

He further conveyed “this renewed collaboration between the ERC and the PCC marks a significant milestone towards fostering a more competitive power industry, drawing on our combined expertise and investigative resources.”

The PCC chief emphasized that in this partnership, the agency is “responsible for enforcing the Philippine Competition Act, looks forward to a more efficient and expeditious investigation into possible violations of the law for the benefit of consumers.”